


every heart that bleeds will color your world red

by orphan_account



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Capitalism sucks, F/M, Persephone ships Orphydice, Slow Burn, based on some weird combo of turn off the dark and tasm movies with andrew garfield, everyone is human, spider-man au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21579067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Orpheus walked further into the room to try and get a closer look. As he was walking, he tripped over a box lying on the floor and crashed into a sheet. He crawled back and jumped up, but not before he felt a sharp prick on his arm. One of the spiders had bitten him. He slapped at his arm and the spider fell down, dead."AKA: A Spider-Man AU
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

Orpheus sighed and shut his locker. It was only second period and he was already tired of school. He looked at the clock and sighed again, six hours until he got to leave. He readjusted his binders and started to head to his next class.   
  


As Orpheus walked through the hall, he felt himself collide with someone. A second later, he was on the ground.

“Are you okay?” A voice near him asked.

Orpheus looked for the source of the voice and saw the person that he had crashed into. She was standing, brushing off her jeans. She looked familiar somehow.

“I’m fine.” Orpheus replied.

The girl reached out a hand. Orpheus stared at it for a second before realizing what it was for. He grabbed it and used it to pull himself up.

“Sorry for that,” the girl said, “I’m-”

“Eurydice.” Orpheus completed, finally realizing why the girl looked so familiar.

Eurydice narrowed her eyes, “How do you know my name?”

Orpheus felt himself blush, “Sorry, I’m not like, stalking you or something. It’s just, we’re in the same science class.” 

“Oh yeah. I think I remember seeing you. You’re-” Eurydice scrunched her nose up as she thought. Orpheus thought it was kind of cute.

“Orpheus!” Eurydice exclaimed, “I got it.”

“Yep, that’s me.” Orpheus smiled.

They stood for a few seconds in silence, both trying to figure out what to say. Suddenly, the warning bell rang. Both Eurydice and Orpheus jolted.

“Well I’ll just be-” Eurydice gestured vaguely behind her.

“Alright, well. I’ll see you around I guess.”

Eurydice nodded. With an awkward goodbye, they went on their separate ways.

Orpheus didn’t really think of the incident for the rest of the day. Driven out of his mind by assessments and petty drama. But a few times throughout the day, when Orpheus was distracted, he caught himself doodling hearts at the edge of his notebook and trying to remember the exact color of Eurydice’s eyes.

.

.

.

“Mr. Hermes, I’m home.” Orpheus called out as he walked into the bar.

The bar, called  _ Road to Hell _ for some reason that Orpheus didn’t understand, was owned by Mr. Hermes. It was medium sized with two floors. The bottom one for the actual bar area, and the top one for Orpheus’ and Mr. Hermes’ bedrooms. 

“In here.” Mr. Hermes called from his office, which doubled as the storage room. 

Orpheus walked in, trying to avoid bumping into the new shipments. He saw Mr. Hermes sitting at his small desk, hunched over a few books. He looked worried.

“What’s up?” Orpheus asked.

“Oh, nothing really.” Mr. Hermes tried to smile, but it was strained.

“Mr. Hermes,” Orpheus said, “I can take bad news. I’m not a kid.”

“And that is where we disagree,” Mr. Hermes laughed, “It really is no big deal. It’s just that business has been a bit slow lately.”

That was an understatement. It seemed like every night, fewer and fewer people came to the bar. The past few weeks, it had been almost empty, with only a couple of regulars showing up. This, of course, meant trouble, since the bar was the source of Mr. Hermes’ income.

“I could always drop out of school,” Orpheus suggested, “Get a job to help pay the bills.”

“Absolutely not.” Mr. Hermes said. 

It was an old argument between them. Orpheus felt he needed to pay Mr. Hermes back somehow. Since he knew that there would be a lot more money left over if Mr. Hermes didn’t have to pay for all of Orpheus’ stuff. But Mr. Hermes was always against the idea of Orpheus discontinuing his studies to work.

“I already sing at the bar.” Orpheus pointed out.

“That’s only because I know you enjoy it,” Mr. Hermes said, “And because it doesn’t interfere with your academics.”

“But-”   
  


“Go on,” Mr. Hermes interrupted, “Do your homework. Don’t worry about this. I’m sure that it will turn out.”

.

.

.

As soon as the clock hit five, Orpheus rushed downstairs to prepare for his performance. He grabbed his lyre, (which was technically a guitar, but Mr. Hermes called it a lyre, so Orpheus just went along with it), and headed to the stage.

Orpheus set up his sheet music, tuned, and waited for people to trickle into the bar. Somewhere in the background, the old radio that Mr. Hermes insisted on keeping was playing the news.

“ _ Hadestown Inc. has just released their newest smartphone. The technology company, known for making everything under the sun, is well known throughout the country. However, the reportedly poor working conditions make many wonder-” _

Mr. Hermes turned the radio off as he walked over. “Is everything ready?”

“Yep.” Orpheus answered, readjusting his music so that he could see it better.

“Alright,” Mr. Hermes said, “Then you can start in about five minutes.”

Orpheus nodded, and Mr. Hermes walked away to sort the drink ingredients. Usually one of the staff would handle it, but today, most of them were down with the flu. Mr. Hermes had given the rest of the staff the week off just to make sure the illness wouldn’t spread. So tonight, it was up to Mr. Hermes and Orpheus to handle everything. 

A few people wandered into the bar and Orpheus started to play. He’d written the song on his own. It wasn’t the best, but it was enjoyable enough. However, there was a series of notes that sounded weird no matter how many times Orpheus changed it.

Orpheus played until closing time. He noted that there were slightly more people that night. Maybe Mr. Hermes had been right when he’d said that things would turn out.

As they were closing up the bar, Orpheus yawned. Mr. Hermes looked over.

“You go to sleep. I can handle this.”

“No. I can help.” Orpheus protested, trying to stifle another yawn.

“Sleep.” Mr. Hermes said, voice brooking no restraint.

Orpheus grumbled and headed up to his room. He put his lyre down in a corner and collapsed on his bed. He immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

.

.

.

Orpheus rushed to science. He was so late, the teacher was going to kill him. He had been eating lunch outside and hadn’t noticed when the bell rang.

The door creaked as Orpheus entered. He winced at how loud it sounded.

“Nice of you to make it,” Ms. Fate, (one of three at the school, nobody knew if they were related), commented, “Everyone got new seats. You may sit there.” She pointed to the only empty seat in the room. It was next to Eurydice.

Orpheus sat down and gave Eurydice a weak smile. She, thankfully, smiled back.

“Alright everyone,” Ms. Fate said, “You’ll be doing a lab today. Instructions are on the board. Your partner is the person next to you.”

Orpheus looked at the board. The lab just seemed to be mixing random chemicals together to see what would happen. He suspected that it was probably just to keep them occupied so they wouldn’t bother Ms. Fate.

“Alright, let’s get started.” Eurydice said. Orpheus nodded.

Working together, they managed to get the lab completed with twenty minutes of class time left. After they cleaned everything up, Orpheus and Eurydice sat in silence. Every few seconds, he stole a glance at her.

“So,” Orpheus finally said, “Are you doing anything after school?”

“Yeah,” Eurydice replied, “I have an internship.”

“That’s cool. Where?”

“It’s at a tech company. It’s called-” Eurydice was interrupted by Ms. Fate handing out worksheets.

They filled out their papers, comparing answers. It was only after the bell rang that Orpheus realized Eurydice had never managed to say the name of the company.

.

.

.

Orpheus finished his song and looked up at the sound of loud applause. He scanned the small audience and saw a familiar face near the back. Orpheus smiled and put down his lyre, rushing off the stage.

“Ms. Persephone.” Orpheus greeted her.

Ms. Persephone laughed and shook her head. “How many times do I have to tell you Orpheus. It’s just Persephone.”

“Sorry.” Orpheus muttered.

Persephone laughed again. “Don’t beat yourself up about it,” She patted the seat next to her, “Sit down.”

Orpheus did. He and Persephone chatted for a bit. Whenever Persephone came, which was only about once every few months, she made things seem lighter. With her there, Orpheus could ignore the fact that the amount of patrons in the bar was less than half of yesterday’s.

She had started coming to the bar years ago, when Orpheus was maybe five or six. And she had just kept coming back whenever she was free. Which wasn’t often, what with helping to manage one of the largest companies in the world.

But talking to Persephone like this, it was easy to forget that she was a billionaire. She pulled out her phone and an angry expression crossed her face. She put it back in her pocket and picked up one of the glasses of wine on the table, drinking the whole thing in one go.

“Is everything okay?” Orpheus asked.

“No,” Persephone said, “But I’m doing the best I can.”

“Would you like me to sing you a song?” Orpheus asked. His singing sometimes cheered Persephone up when she was down.

“That’s sweet, but no thanks,” Persephone said, “I don’t think a song can fix my marriage.” She said the last part quietly, as if she was speaking to herself rather than Orpheus. 

Orpheus made a resolution then. He was going to write a song. One that maybe wouldn’t solve all of Persephone’s problems, but would at least make her genuinely smile. He would have it ready by the time she returned in a few months.

“-is being horrible to the interns,” Persephone said. Orpheus realized he’d zoned out and missed part of the conversation, “Wait, I think one of the interns goes to your school.”

“Really?” Orpheus asked.

“Yes, a girl, in your grade I think. What’s her name? ...Eurydice. That’s it. Do you know her?”

“Yes.” Orpheus smiled as he thought about Eurydice.

“Do you have a crush on her?” Persephone asked, a teasing smile on her face.

Orpheus felt himself blush. “What? Why?”

“You wear your heart on your sleeve kid.”

“Just drop it. Okay?” Orpheus tried to make himself sound serious.

“Sure,” Persephone said, “For now.” Orpheus supposed that was the best he was going to get.

.

.

.

The next day was a Saturday. Orpheus wake up to see he had a text from Persephone.

**_I left my wallet @ the bar. Can u plz drop it off @ the office 2day?_ **

Orpheus sighed. Although he was glad for an excuse to go out. Besides, it wasn’t like he had anything else to do. He typed out a quick reply.

**_Sure_ **

Persephone sent a smiley face in response. Orpheus gathered his stuff and grabbed Persephone’s wallet from where it was lying on a table downstairs.

“Mr. Hermes, I’m going out.” Orpheus yelled.

“Alright,” Mr. Hermes yelled back, “Refill the gas if you’re taking the car.”

Orpheus grabbed the car keys off the hook and left the bar. He drove to Hadestown, stopping at a gas station on the way. He checked for the visitor pass Persephone had given him a few months ago. He found it in the glove compartment. 

After twenty minutes, Orpheus reached the Hadestown Inc. headquarters. It was an imposing building. At least fifty floors tall, and over twenty times wider than the bar. Orpheus took a deep breath and entered the building.

As soon as Orpheus stepped in, a large dog leaped at him.

“Down Cerberus.” A voice commanded. The dog stopped just short of actually colliding with Orpheus.

“Sorry about that,” a man said, “He doesn’t recognize your scent.”

“Um,” Orpheus said, “It’s fine.”

“I’m Charon,” the man said, “Do you have a pass?”

Orpheus nodded and handed Charon his visitor pass. Charon scanned it and let him pass. As Orpheus walked past the dog, it let out a low growl. He walked faster. 

After getting lost a few times, Orpheus managed to find Persephone’s office. He knocked on the door. 

“Come in.” He heard Persephone’s voice call.

“Hey,” Orpheus said as he opened Persephone’s office and walked in, “I have your wal-” He froze as he saw the other person there.

“Hi.” Eurydice said.

Orpheus pulled himself out of his shock enough to reply. “Hi.”

“Thank you for returning my wallet,” Persephone cut in, grabbing the wallet out of Orpheus’ hand, “I have a meeting so I’ve got to run. But Eurydice, remember to talk to Thanatos about getting yourself a raise. Bye.” And with that, Persephone left, winking at Orpheus on her way out.

“So,” Eurydice said after half a minute of awkward silence had passed, “Do you want to see what I’m working on?”

“Sure.” Orpheus replied.

.

.

.

“Ready?” Eurydice asked.

They stood outside a door on the bottom floor. Eurydice had needed to prove her clearance to even get them down there. The outside of the door had  _ CLASSIFIED  _ engraved on it. It was like something in a spy movie.

“Are you even allowed to show me this?” Orpheus asked.

“Well seeing as you know Persephone, I’m sure it’s fine,” Eurydice smiled, “And anyways, I won’t say anything if you don’t.”

Orpheus nodded. Eurydice pushed open the door and stepped inside. Orpheus followed after her.

He gasped when he saw what was in the room. Hundreds of spiders, of varying spiders, scuttling around on the white sheets that covered each wall.

“What...” Orpheus didn’t even know what he was trying to ask.

“We use nanotechnology to modify the spiders’ DNA. We’re thinking that with the right code we could find the cure to many common illnesses. It could even-” Eurydice cut herself off, “Sorry. You probably don’t care about this.”

“No,” Orpheus rushed to reassure her, “I do care.”

Eurydice smiled. Orpheus smiled back.

Orpheus walked further into the room to try and get a closer look. As he was walking, he tripped over a box lying on the floor and crashed into a sheet. He crawled back and jumped up, but not before he felt a sharp prick on his arm. One of the spiders had bitten him. He slapped at his arm and the spider fell down, dead.

“That was worth one million dollars.” Eurydice said, staring at the spider.

Orpheus and Eurydice looked at each other for a second before bursting out laughing. 

After a few seconds, Eurydice managed to catch her breath, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Orpheus said, still chuckling, “I’m alright.”

They walked out of the room, Eurydice closing the door behind them. They took the elevator back up and stopped on the floor where Orpheus had entered. The dog, Cerberus, was sleeping and Charon was flipping through the pages of a magazine.

Eurydice checked her watch. “I have to go, but call me if you feel any weird side effects.”

It was obviously supposed to be a joke, but it came out sounding serious. “I don’t have your number.” Orpheus replied.

“Well we’ll just have to fix that,” Eurydice said. She pulled out a pad of paper on a pen. She wrote on a piece of paper and ripped it off, handing it to Orpheus, “Here.”

Orpheus took it and put it in his pocket, running his fingers over the edge of the paper. Eurydice checked her watch again and frowned. “I really have to go now, but we’ll talk.” She said it like a promise.

Eurydice walked away. Orpheus watched her go, trying to ignore both the fluttering in his heart and the slight tremor in his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Orpheus got back home, he collapsed onto his bed. He had gotten more and more tired on the drive home. He’d even had to pull over on the side of the road a few times just to make sure he didn’t get into an accident by falling asleep at the wheel.

Mr. Hermes walked into the room. He must have heard Orpheus arrive. “I’m going to go to the store. Do you want anything?”

Orpheus just grunted and burrowed into his blankets. He was suddenly freezing.

“Are you okay?” Mr. Hermes stepped closer to Orpheus’ bed.

With great effort, Orpheus managed to form a sentence. “I think I caught something at Hadestown.” He turned over so that he was lying on his back. It took a lot more energy than it should’ve.

Mr. Hermes put a hand on Orpheus’ forehead, “You’re burning up,” he removed his hand, “Are you going to be fine, or do you want me to stay?”

“You can go.” Orpheus replied. He dragged over a pillow and used it to cover his eyes. The light was way too bright.

“Alright,” Mr. Hermes said, “Try to get some sleep. I’ll be back soon.”

Mr. Hermes left the room, closing the door behind him. Orpheus kicked off his blankets, it was way too hot now. 

Time passed in a sort of gooey, elastic way. Eventually Orpheus managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.

.

.

.

Orpheus didn’t know how long he was asleep. He woke up occasionally, but never for more than a few seconds. Once when he woke up, he saw Mr. Hermes and Persephone standing over him, looking worried. Another time, he heard part of a conversation.

“His temperature is way too high. I don’t know what to do.” A voice said, it sounded strangely distorted, tinny and far away.

“You should-” The rest of the reply was lost to Orpheus as he drifted back to sleep.

As Orpheus slept, he dreamed. The dreams were confusing and moved quickly.

_ His mom was standing there. A few feet in front of him. Her back was turned, and she was walking away. She looked exactly the way she had the last time Orpheus had seen her. When he was around four years old. _

_ “Mom,” Orpheus said. He tried to run to her but he couldn’t move, “Mom. Look at me.” _

_ Orpheus tried to move his legs, but to no avail. They were stuck, rooted to the ground by some unseen force. “Mom. Please.” _

_ His mom kept walking. She disappeared from sight. _

_ The scene changed. There was a different woman standing in front of Orpheus now. She stared at him with a strange expression. Sad, but also expectant. _

_ “Who are you?” Orpheus asked. _

_ The woman opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she sang. “La la la la la la la.” _

_ “What does that mean?” But Orpheus didn’t get an answer. The woman was gone. _

_ Suddenly there were spiders covering Orpheus. Crawling all over him. He screamed and screamed and screamed. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew no one could hear him. _

Orpheus jolted awake with a scream. Mr. Hermes rushed over to him.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Orpheus said. The dreams were already fading from his mind, “What’s-” His question was interrupted as he started coughing.

Mr. Hermes handed him a glass of water. Orpheus sipped at it gratefully. “It’s Wednesday. You went to Hadestown on Saturday and immediately got sick. I called the doctor to check up on you and he said you just needed to sleep it off.”

That was strange. Orpheus didn’t feel ill at all. In fact he felt stronger than he’d ever felt before. He was full of energy as well. He felt like he needed to get up and do… something instead of just sitting in bed. 

Orpheus tried to stand up and immediately fell back down onto the bed. It seemed he wasn’t as fully healed as he’d thought.

“Take it easy,” Mr. Hermes said, “You’ve only just recovered.” 

“Can I ask you a question?” Orpheus looked up at Mr. Hermes.

“You just did,” Mr. Hermes chuckled, “But sure.”

“Why,” Orpheus paused. He wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to know the answer to this, “Why did my mom leave me?”

Orpheus had never asked that before. Even though it was always at the back of his mind, he’d felt that it was way too heavy. But a voice inside of his head told him that he needed to ask. He thought it might have something to do with one of his mostly forgotten dreams.

Mr. Hermes sighed. “Your mother had a lot of ambition. She was a friend of mine, so she decided to leave you here while she followed her aspirations.”

“And I didn’t factor into those?” Orpheus tried not to sound bitter.

“It wasn’t anything to do with you,” Mr. Hermes said, “Raising a kid was just never in her plans.”

“So she made me your problem.” Orpheus muttered.

“You’re not a problem Orpheus. What brought this on?”

“Nothing,” Orpheus replied, “Just thinking.”

Mr. Hermes looked like he wanted to say something else, but at that moment his phone rang. He looked at it and cursed. “I have to take this, but this conversation isn’t over.” He walked out of the room, talking in a low tone to the person on the other end.

Orpheus sighed and went back to sleep, trying to ignore the energy inside of him, waiting to be let out.

.

.

.

The next time Orpheus woke up, it was dark outside. He rolled over and checked the clock on his nightstand. The blinking numbers read 11:00 PM.

Orpheus could hear the noise of the bar downstairs. It would be closing soon. He got out of bed and turned on his lights. There was a loud crashing sound from downstairs, strangely loud. Orpheus jumped in surprise, and the entire world turned upside down.

Well it wasn’t the world, Orpheus realized, it was him. He was somehow stuck to the ceiling. This made absolutely no sense. But it was happening, clear as day. 

Orpheus tried not to freak out, but it was hard. He put all his effort into moving one of his hands and after a few tries, it came unstuck. He did the same with his other hand and found himself hanging by his feet, blood rushing to his head.

He took a deep breath and jumped, on purpose this time. With a  _ thump _ , Orpheus landed on the bed. Flecks of paint from the ceiling fell on him.

He needed to figure this out. Whatever it was, there was no way it was unconnected to his sudden illness. The one he had caught at Hadestown.

Hadestown. The memories came rushing back to Orpheus. Everything had been fine until that spider had bitten him. That must be the cause! After all, Eurydice had said they were interfering with spiders’ genes or something like that.

Orpheus looked around. There, on his desk, was the paper Eurydice had given him. He walked over and picked it up. It was slightly crumpled, but still readable. Orpheus picked up his phone and typed the number in, hesitating over the icon to call.

It was late. Eurydice was probably asleep by now. Besides, there was no guarantee that she'd even be able to help Orpheus. But… Orpheus needed to talk to someone. And something told him that he could trust Eurydice. He tapped call.

Eurydice picked up after three rings. “Hey,” she said, “Who is this?”

“It’s Orpheus. You gave me your number on Friday.”

“Oh Orpheus,” Eurydice said, “How are you? You haven’t been at school all week.”

Orpheus was surprised that she’d noticed his absence. “I’m fine, but… do you remember how that spider bit me at Hadestown?”

“Yeah.” Eurydice sounded confused.

“Well I think it might have had some side effects on me.” Orpheus half expected Eurydice to laugh at him.

“What do you mean?” Eurydice asked. There was no mockery in her voice. Orpheus felt grateful for that.

Orpheus was about to reply when he heard footsteps, getting closer. They stopped outside his door. There was no sound coming from downstairs anymore. Mr. Hermes must have closed up the bar and decided to check on Orpheus. 

“I have to go,” Orpheus whispered, “But meet me tomorrow during lunch. Outside the library.” He hung up just as Mr. Hermes walked into the room.

“Feeling better?” Mr. Hermes asked.

“Lots,” Orpheus replied, “I think I can go back to school tomorrow.”

“You sure?”

“Yep,” Orpheus said, “I’m doing great.”

“Okay. Just take it easy tomorrow,” Mr. Hermes turned to leave, pausing in the doorway, “And tell me if anything happens.”

“Alright.” Orpheus smiled at Mr. Hermes and told himself that he wasn’t avoiding looking at the newly chipped paint on the ceiling.

.

.

.

Orpheus waited outside the library, checking the time on his phone for the fiftieth time. It was ten minutes into lunch and Eurydice still hadn’t shown up.

He was about to give up and leave when he saw her walk towards him. Orpheus lifted his hand and waved. She waved back, slightly hesitant. 

“Hi.” Orpheus said when Eurydice got closer.

“Um hi,” she replied, “What did you mean yesterday on the phone?”

“I,” Orpheus started, then stopped as a large group of freshmen passed by, “Could we talk somewhere slightly more private.”

Eurydice nodded. They walked for a while until they found a fairly secluded hallway. Orpheus leaned against a locker and started to talk.

He started at the beginning, with the weird illness. And then described how it was when he woke up, with his strange burst of energy. Finally, he moved on to the strangest part. The sticking to the ceiling. Orpheus kept expecting Eurydice to interrupt, tell him that he’d imagined everything, but she stayed silent while he talked.

“So,” Eurydice said when Orpheus finished, “That spider bite gave you… powers?”

“I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth.”

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you,” Eurydice started, “But it’s a lot to take in.”

Orpheus understood. He tried to move away from the locker, to pace maybe, but he found he couldn’t move his hand. No. This was the worst time for this to happen.

“Are you okay?” Eurydice asked as Orpheus struggled to unstick himself from the locker.

“Yep.” Orpheus said. 

He gave a hard yank and his hand came free. Unfortunately it was still stuck to the locker door, which had broken off the hinges. It was much lighter than Orpheus would have expected.

“Um.” Orpheus said. He peeled his hand off the locker door and awkwardly tried to stuff the door back where it belonged.

“Well, I believe you now.” Eurydice said. Orpheus hoped he wasn’t blushing too hard.

The warning bell rang. Neither of them moved.

“So,” Eurydice said, “What are you going to do with your new powers?”

“Ummm,” Orpheus hadn’t really considered it. He had been too caught up in the fact that he had powers in the first place. Suddenly he had a thought, “I could use them to help save people.”

Eurydice laughed.

“What?” Orpheus asked. He didn’t see what was so funny.

Eurydice stopped laughing and shook her head. “It’s just, most people would think to use these powers for something selfish. Fame or money or something like that. But your first thought is to use them to help other people. You’re really not like anyone I’ve ever met.”

Orpheus smiled. “Well with great power comes-”

The final bell interrupted his sentence. They were technically late to class, but neither of them moved.

“So, will you help me?” Orpheus asked.

“What?” Eurydice looked surprised.

“Please,” Orpheus said, “There’s no way I can do this on my own.”

Eurydice stared at him for a long second before replying. “Fine. But I better not regret this.”

.

.

.

_ Elsewhere _

On the very bottom floor of Hadestown Inc., workers hurried around like bees in a hive. The area that they worked in was nicknamed  _ The Wall _ for the level of secrecy surrounding it. If you didn’t work there, it might as well not exist.

One of the workers turned to another. She hadn’t been there long, you could tell by the way there was still a light in her eyes. “What are we doing?” She asked.

“We’re making a serum for Mr. Hades. It enhances strength, speed, and reflexes.” Her fellow worker replied monotonously. He had been working there for so long that he was more of a shell than an actual person.

“Why?” The first worker answered.

“It doesn’t matter,” the second replied, “Just keep your head low.” He said the words like a mantra.

The first worker nodded. A little bit of light left her eyes.

The door slammed open and all the workers recoiled in fear. There was only one person who’d dare to enter like that. 

“Is it done yet?” Hades asked, a bored look on his face.

The lead scientist stepped forward. “It is sir, but…” He trailed off.

“But what?” Hades demanded. The scientist didn’t reply and Hades growled, “Tell me. I’m a busy man, I haven’t got all day.”

“We haven’t tested it yet.” The scientist replied.

“Unacceptable,” Hades said. The workers shook where they stood, afraid. Hades continued, “Nevertheless, I’m on a schedule. I will just have to  _ trust  _ that you have succeeded,” he said the word ‘trust’ like it was a curse, “Hand it over.”

“But-”

  
  
“Do as I say.” Hades cut the scientist off.

The scientist gestured to one of the workers. The worker picked up a syringe filled with a translucent light blue substance and handed it to Hades.

Hades turned it over in his hands, examining it carefully. He addressed the lead scientist. “Are you sure this is correct? I would be very… unhappy if it wasn’t.”

The scientist gulped. “Yes sir.”

“Good.” Hades said.

Without any further ado, Hades jammed the syringe into his arm. The workers watched in horror. For a single, blessed second, nothing happened. And then Hades began to scream. A low terrible scream that was like something one might hear in a nightmare.

As he screamed, Hades transformed. His skin turned green and his eyes yellow. His ears lengthened, and his muscles grew until his clothes were almost bursting at the seams. By the end of his transformation, Hades was no longer a man. No longer human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. Hades came off way more villainy here than I intended when I was plotting this story, but don't worry, he's not irredeemable.


	3. Chapter 3

A week passed without anything notable happening. Orpheus managed to catch up on all the schoolwork he’d missed while sick. He spent his free time learning to control his spider induced powers, of which he and Eurydice didn’t speak, despite their agreement.

That Sunday, Orpheus was practicing his scales when he got a text from Eurydice.

**_I have some things for you. Where do you live?_ **

Orpheus quickly typed out the address of the bar and waited. Around ten minutes later, he heard a knock on the door. That seemed to be another perk of the spider bite, enhanced hearing.

Orpheus ran downstairs and answered the door. Eurydice was standing there, holding both a duffel bag and a garment bag. He stepped inside to let her in.

“Mr. Hermes,” Orpheus yelled, “I invited a friend over.”

“Alright,” Mr. Hermes yelled back from his office, “Don’t break anything.”

“So,” Orpheus said to Eurydice, “Let’s go to my room.”

Eurydice nodded. Orpheus led the way to his room. He wished he’d cleaned up before, the room was slightly messy.

“Okay,” Eurydice said, “Here’s the stuff.” 

She lay the bags on the floor and unzipped the duffel bag. Eurydice pulled out two weirdly shaped devices. She handed them to Orpheus.

“What are these?” Orpheus asked.

“Press the button.” Eurydice gestured to the button in the center of one.

Orpheus pressed on the button and a web came shooting out of it. He walked over to the web and pulled on it with all his strength. It stretched but didn’t snap. “Woah.”   
  


“You can attach them to your arms,” Eurydice said, “I just figured you’d want to roll with the whole spider theme.”

“This is great,” Orpheus smiled, “What’s in that?” He pointed to the garment bag.

Eurydice opened it and pulled out a costume. It was all black with a spider decal in the middle. “What do you think?”

“It could use some color.” Orpheus replied.

Eurydice glared at him. “It’s for stealth.”

“Some red, maybe a little blue.” Orpheus continued.

“Fine,” Eurydice said, “I’ll have it done by Tuesday.” She put the costume back in the garment bag.

“Awesome.” Orpheus grinned. After a second, Eurydice smiled back.

They moved to sit on the bed. Eurydice glanced at the guitar resting against the opposite wall and then back at Orpheus. “You play?”

“Yeah,” Orpheus said, “I also sing.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I’m actually working on a song right now.” It was the song for Persephone, although it wasn’t really going well. Orpheus didn’t have anything except part of a melody.

“Sing it for me.” Eurydice said.

“It’s not finished.” Orpheus protested.

“Please.” Eurydice’s eyes went wide and she gave him a pleading smile. Orpheus tried to say no but found that he couldn’t.

He sighed and walked over to get his guitar. Orpheus sat down on the edge of his bed and started strumming the strings. He opened his mouth and started to sing. “La la la la la la la.”

He sang it over and over again, letting it wash over both of them. Orpheus stopped and looked over at Eurydice, not sure what he should expect. She was staring at him, open-mouthed.

“That was amazing,” Eurydice said, “You have to finish it.”

“Thanks.” Orpheus blushed. He hadn’t been expecting such a positive response.

Suddenly the door opened. Both Orpheus and Eurydice jumped. Orpheus hid the web-shooters, as he had decided to call them, behind his back.

Persephone walked in. “Hey kiddo, I’m glad you recovered. I would have visited sooner but Hades has disappeared somewhere. Leaving me with all the work. Sometimes I wonder,” she caught sight of Eurydice and paused, narrowing her eyes, “What are you two up to?”

“Nothing,” Orpheus said, a little too quickly. He inwardly winced, “We were just-”

“Save it,” Persephone said, “I know what’s going on here.”

“You do?” Orpheus and Eurydice spoke at the same time.

“Yep,” Persephone smiled, “You two are on a date.”

“No-” Orpheus started to say. Eurydice interrupted him.

“Yeah, you caught us.”

Persephone laughed. “Well I’ll leave you two to it. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. And Orpheus,” she paused, “Clean your room. I think I see a spider web.” She walked out of the room, leaving Orpheus and Eurydice alone.

“So… we’re dating now?” Orpheus asked after a few seconds had passed.

“It was the easiest way to satisfy her curiosity and get her off our backs.” Eurydice looked anywhere but Orpheus the entire time she was speaking.

“...oh.” Orpheus tried not to feel disappointed. It didn’t work.

.

.

.

Tuesday afternoon brought Eurydice to the bar again with Orpheus’ updated costume. Mr. Hermes got to the door before Orpheus could. Orpheus came downstairs to hear them talking.

“You’re Orpheus’ friend?” Mr. Hermes asked.

“Yes,” Eurydice said, “We met at school.”

Mr. Hermes looked like he was going to say something else, but Orpheus went up to the door and interrupted.

“Hey Eurydice. Why don’t we go to my room.”

Eurydice nodded and they headed upstairs. As they were walking she asked, “Was that your dad?”

“Y- well no. I mean, it’s complicated. I never knew my biological dad, and my mom left me here when I was four. So Mr. Hermes basically raised me.”

“I get that.” Eurydice said.

“Really?” Orpheus asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been in the foster care system practically since I was born. Getting passed around from house to house isn’t the most fun. I’m just trying to save up enough money to live on my own.”

“Why haven’t you been adopted?” Orpheus asked, then mentally facepalmed, “I’m sorry. That’s a really personal thing. You don’t have to answer.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s not like it’s some sort of big secret. I guess I’ve just never had a reason to stick around anywhere.”

They entered Orpheus’ room and Eurydice laid the garment bag on the bed. She opened it and pulled out the costume. It was the same basic shape, but the colors had changed. Instead of black it was a vibrant red and blue. The spider decal was slightly bigger as well.

“Well?” Eurydice asked.

“I love it,” Orpheus said, running his hand over the fabric, “How were you able to make this?” He hadn’t thought to ask last time.

“I smuggled the materials from Hadestown,” Eurydice said, “And after that it was just a matter of putting it together. It’s bulletproof by the way. And fireproof.”

“Won’t they notice if the stuff is missing?” Orpheus didn’t want to somehow cost Eurydice her job.

“Maybe,” Eurydice hummed, “But fuck capitalism.”

Orpheus laughed. “Yep.”

From downstairs the sound of Mr. Hermes’ radio drifted up to Orpheus. “ _ -hostage situation at  _ Medea’s Apothecary _. The robbers have warned that they are prepared to kill the hostages if their demands aren’t met. _ ”

Eurydice must have seen something on Orpheus’ face since she asked, “What’s up?”

“There’s some robbers at  _ Medea’s _ . They’ve taken hostages. I could-” He gestured to the costume.

Eurydice seemed to understand. “Go. I’ll cover for you with your guardian.”

Orpheus picked up the costume and dashed to where he had hidden the web shooters. “Uh could you turn around?” Eurydice nodded and turned so that her back was facing Orpheus. He changed quickly and attached the web shooters to his arms. It felt a little weird to have a mask over his face.

“Wait,” Eurydice called as Orpheus was opening the window. He paused, “Good luck.”

Orpheus nodded and jumped out the window.

.

.

.

Orpheus landed in front of  _ Medea’s _ with a slight stumble. He had swung all the way there. The web shooters had had a bit of a learning curve, but Orpheus had managed to avoid death by falling. Even if there had been those few seconds where the webs wouldn’t stick to anything and Orpheus had been sure it was the end of the road for him.

_ Medea’s _ was a small shop. Orpheus had been there once or twice with Mr. Hermes. It had all sorts of herbal remedies and medicines and the woman who owned it was pretty nice. The shop always felt quaint and homey. A calm place.

Now, the store was surrounded by cop cars. Civilians stood behind yellow tape, some were crying.

Orpheus aimed at a lamppost and used it to swing himself to the roof. He searched around for a way to get in. There, a chimney. Orpheus managed to squeeze through it and land on the bottom without much noise. 

“-want money.” Orpheus heard a voice say. It seemed to be coming from a different room. Orpheus stood up and silently walked towards it, staying hidden behind a wall.

From where he was standing, Orpheus could see three hostages and two robbers. The hostages consisted of an old man, a middle aged woman, and a young girl who was huddled close to the woman. The robbers were both wearing ski masks. One had a gun pointed at the hostages, while the other was speaking into a phone.

Now that he was here, Orpheus had no idea what to do. He supposed he could use his web shooters in some way. He’d have to take out the guy with the gun first, to make sure no hostages got caught in the crossfire. Although he wasn’t sure if the other robber had any sort of weapon.

Orpheus took a deep breath and aimed his web shooter at the gun. He pressed and it connected. He released and with a  _ yoink _ , the gun was in Orpheus’ hands. He quickly dropped it and kicked it into the other room.

“What the f-” The robber managed to say before Orpheus webbed his mouth shut.

The guy with the phone looked up. Orpheus leaped into action.

Adrenaline took over. Orpheus had taken a martial arts class for a year before quitting and he used those skills now. He kicked, punched, and hit the robbers, looking for weak spots. He webbed one robber’s hand to a wall, rendering the guy out of commission. The other robber was a little more tough, managing to dodge Orpheus’ webs. 

Orpheus was grappling with the robber when he felt something. Like a siren blaring in his head, screaming “danger, danger danger.” He jumped out of the way and managed to avoid the knife that would have hit him on his neck, where there was a small gap between the mask and the rest of the costume. He made a mental note to fix that later.

Orpheus looked back at the robber who was webbed to the wall. He quickly webbed up the guy’s other hand. No more sneaky knife throwing for him.

The free robber punched Orpheus in the side of the face. He inwardly cringed, that was going to leave a bruise. Orpheus headbutted the robber. That seemed to do the trick. The guy fell to the ground, dazed. Orpheus webbed up his hands and feet.

Orpheus rushed over to the hostages. The little girl was crying now, the woman holding her protectively.

“Is everyone okay?” Orpheus asked. His voice was strangely distorted. Eurydice must have put a voice modulator in the mask.

Nobody spoke for a moment. Finally the old man said, “I’m fine. And so is Deepika,” he gestured to the woman, “I’m not sure about Anjali though.”

The woman, Deepika, lightly patted the girl’s head and said, “She’s alright. Just a little shaken.”

“Alright,” Orpheus said, “I’ll go get the cops. You’re all safe now.”

“Wait,” the old man said as Orpheus turned to leave. Orpheus hadn’t caught his name, “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Orpheus smiled and walked out of the store.

As soon as Orpheus exited the store, he found himself the target of every single cop’s gun. He put his hands up. “I took care of the robbers.” He said.

A man who must have been the police chief stepped forward. “Who are you?” He growled.

“Just a person trying to do the right thing.” Orpheus tried to keep his voice calm.

The police chief glanced behind him. Orpheus followed his gaze and saw that a news station had arrived. A camera was recording everything that was happening. With a gesture by the police chief, all of the officers put down their guns.

The chief walked forward until he was standing right next to Orpheus. He put his mouth near Orpheus’ ear. “If I see you again, my officers will have the order to shoot on sight.” With that statement, he walked past Orpheus into the store, a few other cops following behind him.

Orpheus walked past the group of cops and was immediately accosted by a reporter. She was probably Persephone’s age, with blonde hair and bright red lipstick. “Young man,” she said, “What do you call yourself?”

“Um,” Orpheus hadn’t really thought about it, but he needed to say something. Quick, “...Spider ...Man.” He mentally sighed.

“Spider-Man?” The reporter looked surprised.

“Yep,” Orpheus said, “That’s me. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

“Well Spider-Man,” the reporter said, “What inspired you to jump into this situation?”

“Well,” Orpheus thought, “I knew I could do something to help. So why shouldn’t I? We all need to put our part in. For the world we dream about, and for the one we live in now.”

The reporter gave him a smile that was way too wide and turned to face the camera. “Wise words from our very own Spider-Man. We’re all so excited to see what he’ll do next.”

The camera man gave a signal and the woman stopped smiling. She walked up to him and said something. Orpheus used the opportunity to swing away.

.

.

.

_ Elsewhere _

The workers scattered as Hades walked into  _ The Wall _ . He was barely recognizable as Hades anymore, with his green skin and distorted features. However, he was still wearing the same clothes as Hades, as if he was determined to go on like nothing had happened.

“Mr. Hades,” the lead scientist, (a new one, the old one had either been fired or killed, no one knew for sure), said, “We haven’t completed the antidote yet. But we’ve made good progress.”

“Antidote,” Hades said. And his voice, at least, was recognizable, “Who said I want an antidote?”

“What?” The lead scientist asked. The newer workers shared glances with each other.

“I don’t want to be ‘cured’,” Hades said, “Although the serum had regrettable side effects, it succeeded in its goal. I am now stronger, faster, and all around better than any human. Why would I want to go back?”

Nobody answered. They were scared of where this was going.

“No,” Hades mused, “If anything I’d want to share this gift that I have been given with the rest of the world.” He grinned, showing his teeth. They were sharper than any human’s should be.

“So,” the lead scientist said, “Would you like us to stop our work on the antidote?”

“Yes,” Hades had a thoughtful look on his face, “Instead I’d like you to replicate the serum. And find a way to distribute it to a large amount of people at once. Perhaps the city would suffice for now.”

Many of the workers wanted to protest. As much as they could ‘want’ anything these days. But it is not the place of a worker to challenge the boss. At least, that was what they’d been told for years on end. So, instead of saying anything, they just nodded and started to do what they did best. Work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I'm terrible at writing action, but I hope that scene was at least readable. Also, unrelated but Chant is an interesting song to have a mental breakdown to. Again, please comment if you like this. I need validation to exist. And if you want to chat with me about Hadestown or yell at me for my writing, my Hadestown sideblog on tumblr is dryad-eurydice.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight time skip of one month

Orpheus winced as he fumbled for his phone. He hadn’t even been out on patrol that night, (as he had been every other night of the month), just taking a walk to enjoy the night air. Yet things had managed to go wrong anyways.

There had been a man in an alleyway, threatening a woman with a knife. Orpheus had spotted them as he was walking past the area and had quickly intervened.

“Pick on someone your own size.” Orpheus had called out. The man had looked up at the words, giving the woman the opportunity to get away. The man hadn’t liked that.

Orpheus and the man had fought, Orpheus being stupidly careless. He had thought that even without the suit Eurydice had made him, his powers would protect him. He was wrong.

The man had had a knife. And Orpheus’ spidey sense, as he had decided to call it, (even though Eurydice had informed him that spiders didn’t have any sort of pre-recognition), had warned him too late. Before Orpheus had known it, there was a nasty gash on his shoulder. Orpheus had managed to take the man out, his training over the past month had come in handy, but there was a dark patch of blood forming near the stab wound and he felt lightheaded.

Orpheus finally managed to type in his password and get to his contacts. He clicked on Eurydice’s icon, a picture she had sent him of her in a Batman costume, and clicked call.

Eurydice picked up after two rings. “Hey Spider-boy. What’s up?”

“‘Rydice,” Orpheus said and frowned. His voice was strangely slurred, “Need your help.”

“What is it?” Eurydice sounded panicked now, her joking tone completely gone.

“...Been stabbed.”

“What?” Eurydice almost screamed. Orpheus winced at the volume, “Where are you?”

Orpheus squinted. In the light of the streetlamps, he could vaguely make out a sign. Laurel street. He told Eurydice.

“Alright. My house is closer than yours. I live on Watson, it’s the next street over. Do you think you can make it?”

“Uh yeah.” Orpheus said, although he wasn’t sure.

Eurydice gave her address. Orpheus stumbled his way out of the alleyway and down the street. A few passerbys looked at him weirdly, but none of them seemed to notice the stab wound. There weren’t many people out at this time anyways. 

  
  


The injury was painful, but much less so than Orpheus would have expected. He could at least walk. Orpheus turned the corner and glanced at the addresses. Finally he located the one that Eurydice had said was her house. He stumbled up to the porch, almost tripping over a large rock on the lawn, and rang the doorbell.

The door opened immediately. Eurydice was standing there, a serious expression on her face. “Come in.”

Orpheus tried to walk forward and collapsed. Eurydice caught him before he hit the ground and helped him inside, supporting most of his weight. 

“Where is everyone?” Orpheus asked. He didn’t think Eurydice would have asked him to come over if there were other people in the house.

“My foster parents are on vacation. They took their kids with them.” Eurydice said, helping Orpheus settle on the couch.

“They didn’t take you?”

“No,” Eurydice opened a cabinet and pulled something out, it looked like a small medical kit, “They don’t much care for the ‘parenting’ part of being a foster parent.”

“That’s messed up,” Orpheus said as Eurydice walked back over to him, “You deserve better than that.”

Eurydice hummed, looking a little uncomfortable at Orpheus’ words. She took out a pair of scissors and cut the fabric around Orpheus’ wound. He frowned, he had liked that shirt. Although Orpheus supposed that the bloodstain had probably already rendered it unwearable.

“When did you get this?” Eurydice asked.

Orpheus thought back. It had to be... “An hour ago.”

“It’s already half healed,” Eurydice looked surprised. She took out a piece of gauze and poured some rubbing alcohol on it, “I’ll disinfect it, but it looks like it’ll heal on its own.”

“Is it because of the spider bite?” Orpheus asked. He hissed as Eurydice touched his wound with the gauze.

“I suppose it must be,” Eurydice replied. She finished cleaning the wound and pulled her hand away, “Unless you’ve just had superhuman healing your whole life.”

Orpheus remembered when he was ten and broke his arm by falling down a hill. He had to have a cast for several months. He could have used this new power then.

Suddenly Orpheus’ phone rang, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over him and Eurydice. He clicked answer, holding it up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Orpheus,” Mr. Hermes’ voice came through the phone, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Orpheus replied, “Why?”

“You said you would be back by ten. It’s ten thirty.”

“Yeah. Just lost track of time. I’ll be home soon.”

“Alright.” Mr. Hermes hung up.

Orpheus looked at Eurydice. He slowly stood up at the same time she did.

“I’ll just-” He took a step towards the door, almost tripping over his own feet. It seemed the spider bite hadn’t cured his clumsiness. He blushed and continued walking.

“Orpheus,” Eurydice said as Orpheus opened the door. He turned around, she was still standing. She paused for a second before continuing, “Please don’t get yourself stabbed again. At least, not without the suit on. Just… stay safe.”

He gave her a tight smile. “I will.” But even then, Orpheus could tell that it was a promise he wouldn’t be able to keep.

.

.

.

The next day, Orpheus came downstairs to find Persephone sleeping in the bar. They weren’t supposed to open for a few more hours, but there was always an exception where Persephone was involved. Mr. Hermes was standing behind the counter, cleaning a glass. The staff would arrive in an hour or two.

“Is she okay?” Orpheus asked.

Mr. Hermes nodded. “She’s fine. At least physically.”

“How much did she drink?”

“She’s passed out from exhaustion, not alcohol.” Mr. Hermes dried the glass and put it on the rack behind him.

“Why?” Although Orpheus had a vague memory of Persephone saying something about having to run Hadestown herself lately.

“Her husband’s up and gone to god knows where without a single word of goodbye, leaving her to manage the company by herself.”

Persephone mumbled something in her sleep and turned her head slightly. Orpheus lowered his voice as he asked his next question. “Why does she stay with him? When he does things like this. She’s clearly not happy.”

Mr. Hermes didn’t reply for a long time. Finally he said, “I knew Hades. Before he founded Hadestown.”

“Really.”

“Yes. We went to college together. Olympus University,” Mr. Hermes sighed, “He used to be so earnest. Wanted to do something good in the world. It’s why he started that company in the first place.”

“That’s hard to believe.” Everybody knew that the working conditions at Hadestown were horrible. Employees were treated as little more than tools. Yet Hades, with his boatloads of cash, never faced any consequences.

Mr. Hermes walked over to his radio and turned it on. Switching channels until he settled on one that was playing some old jazz song. “Intentions don’t mean much in the end. Good men rarely stay good.” He said.

“You did.” Orpheus pointed out.

Mr. Hermes looked at Orpheus, a strange expression on his face. “I’ve made my mistakes, same as anyone. But I never answered your question. I think Persephone stays because she thinks that the man Hades used to be is still there, deep down.”

“Is he?”

Mr. Hermes shrugged. A few seconds later, Persephone jolted awake. “How long was I asleep?” She asked Mr. Hermes.

“Only around half an hour.” Mr. Hermes replied. Persephone nodded and got up.

“I have to go,” she said, “I have a meeting to get to.” She rushed out the door, not even sparing a glance at Orpheus.

.

.

.

That night, barely anyone showed up at the bar. Mr. Hermes had just smiled and made a joke about the small crowd, but Orpheus could tell that the man was worried.

Orpheus played a few songs on his guitar before retiring upstairs. His shoulder, while healed from the wound, was still pretty sore. Luckily Mr. Hermes hadn’t seemed to notice. And Orpheus had managed to dispose of his bloody and torn shirt. So there was no clue that he’d even been stabbed. 

He’d wanted to ask Mr. Hermes for money to get a new shirt, but he decided to postpone his request until business at the bar improved. The last thing Orpheus wanted was to burden Mr. Hermes’ money any more than he already was.

As Orpheus entered his room, he picked up one of the sheets of paper on the floor. They were all drafts of the song he was writing for Persephone. Despite spending a lot of his free time working on it, Orpheus still barely had anything except part of the melody. 

He remembered his conversation with Hermes earlier that day. Orpheus wondered if it was even possible to make Persephone happy without somehow fixing her relationship with her husband. He sighed and put down the paper. 

A  _ ding _ drew Orpheus’ attention. He glanced at his phone and saw that he had a text from Eurydice. It was a picture of herself standing next to an inflatable spider at Target. She had wrote ‘think i found ur cousin’ on the picture.

Orpheus laughed. He sent back a smiley face before turning off his phone. He needed to work on the song.

A lyric came to him suddenly, while he was still thinking of Eurydice’s picture. He jotted it down.

_ It was like she was someone you’d always known. _

Orpheus didn’t know where he could use the lyric, or even what had inspired it (that was a lie, he knew exactly what it was, he just didn’t want to admit it to himself), but it sounded nice. He tried to think of more lines, but no words manifested.

.

.

.

_ Elsewhere _

Hades sat on his couch, bored. He was in a top secret warehouse, known only to him and the people he chose to tell. It was where he was living after his transformation. After all, he couldn’t go home. Not the way he was. His wife would probably get as far away as he could. And Lord knew that Persephone was the only thing Hades cared about these days. He would do anything to keep her, even if it meant never returning home.

Hades was waiting for the news that the device was finished. He had set his workers to make it almost a month ago, but they were far from completing it. Apparently they kept running into roadblocks. Which, in Hades’ opinion, was just an excuse.

The door opened and Thanatos walked in. Thanatos was the only higher up at Hadestown who Hades trusted not to start stabbing as soon as he turned his back.

“How is it going?” Hades asked. He was just glad that his voice had stayed the same even after his transformation.

Thanatos sighed. Not good news then. “They say they need more time.”

“Of course they do.” Hades growled. That was the working class for you. Give them a piece, they take it all. Give them a minute, they take an eternity. 

“And boss,” Thanatos said, “Your wife is worried. She thinks it’s pretty out of character for you to just vanish like this. Should I tell her-”

“You will tell her nothing.” Hades interrupted coldly.

“If you say so,” Thanatos muttered, “Look, I have to go. Maybe do something to pass the time. Watch tv or something.” He walked out the door, leaving Hades alone.

Hades sighed and picked up the television remote, Thanatos’ idea was better than doing nothing. He flipped through the channels, looking for one that wasn’t mind numbingly boring.

“ _ Kelly is kicked off-”  _ Switch.

“ _ You can’t leave me! I love- _ ” Switch.

“ _ This is so raw, its mother was- _ ”

“ _ -Daily News. Today we’ll be discussing Spider-Man, a so called ‘hero’ who displays seemingly non-human powers. _ ” Switch

“ _ I know what you- _ ” Wait, go back.

“ _ Spider-Man appeared a little over a month ago when he stopped a hostage situation. From what we can tell, many of his abilities are due to powers rather than any sort of technology. The police have released a statement saying that Spider-Man is dangerous and not to be trusted under any- _ ”

Hades watched the news channel, intrigued. It seemed that he wasn’t the only not-entirely-human person in the city. Which meant one of two things. Either a different company had managed to replicate Hades’ serum, or this ‘Spider-Man’ was somehow involved with Hadestown. The second option would mean that one of Hades’ own workers had betrayed him. Another reason why he could never trust the people below him.

The news channel cut to footage of Spider-Man. From what Hades could see of him, Spider-Man looked more like a boy than a man. Curious. Spider-Man was fighting some petty robbers who had high caliber guns. The video was grainy and shook a lot, it was probably recorded on a cell phone, but Hades still tried to analyze it.

The boy’s powers included super strength, Hades noted as Spider-Man lifted up a car and slid under it. Probably also some form of foresight, judging by the way that Spider-Man managed to dodge bullets even when his back was turned.

The most interesting things were the webs. Spider-Man used them to swing around the area as well as to incapacitate certain robbers. Hades wasn’t sure if they were biological or synthetic. Either way, they seemed to be what Spider-Man relied on the most as he fought.

After the video ended, an interview came on. A reporter was talking to Spider-Man, questioning his motives. Instead of saying anything reasonable, the boy just stumbled his way through some statement about making the world a better place. How distasteful.

The news channel moved on to a different topic. Hades turned it off and stood up, pacing the room. This Spider-Man was a variable Hades hadn’t counted on. Someone that might interfere with his plans. Hades couldn’t afford that. No consequences would come to him, of course, he was above that. But starting over would take time that he did not have.

Hades made a decision. He walked out the door of the warehouse, not bothering to turn off the light. This Spider-Man was dangerous, Hades planned to see for himself just how much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you liked :). My Hadestown tumblr is dryad-eurydice if you want to chat about anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you liked this. Or if you hated it. I just want to know I'm not releasing my weird AUs into a cold, uncaring void.


End file.
